Fall Camp #7: Morning Notes

The first morning practice of fall camp was more or less an up-tempo, run-through without pads, coming in at a shade under two and a half hours.

The injury list has grown: LB Chris Galippo missed practice this morning and will have an MRI on his right shoulder later today. QB Jesse Scroggins was also a no-show and plans to see a hand specialist sometime this week, after spraining a ligament on his throwing hand during Monday's scrimmage. Freshman OG Aundrey Walker (who began practice with the first team O-line for the second straight day) suffered a hip strain during the morning session, although Lane Kiffin didn't believe it was all that serious. S Tony Burnett (ankle) and RB Amir Carlisle (quad) also left practice early.

Although the last session of summer school ended on Tuesday, sophomore WR Markeith Ambles will be held out of practice until his grades come back.

Special teams training reigned supreme Wednesday morning, and freshman PK Andre Heidari took full advantage of the extra work. Heidari- who Kiffin said would be the starter after his performance in Monday's scrimmage- made five-of-six attempts inside of 50 yards. The punter job is still up for grabs according to the head coach, as freshman Kris Albarado and redshirt junior walk-on Kyle Negrete vie for the final nod.

Sophomore return men Nickell Robey and Robert Woods took part in an early morning competition, to see who could catch and hold onto more balls at once without a single drop. Both maintained four with ease, but No.5 ultimately did them in, ending the battle in a draw.

Kiffin acknowledged that he has spoken to RB Marc Tyler, who is currently not with the team due to off-field behavior. "Nothing has changed, and he is still trying to get himself right." The coach went on to reiterate that there is no timetable for his return to camp.

Quarterback Matt Barkley was Mr. Efficiency during the two-minute drill. The junior connected on seven-of-eight attempts and drove the offense 70 yards down the field in just over 90 seconds. The drive was capped off by a 10-yard touchdown grab from redshirt senior Brandon Carswell (pictured above).

Speaking of Carswell, Kiffin lauded the wide receiver for his consistency and work ethic during camp to this point. He even went as far as to dub No.80 "the front-runner for the MVP of camp" through the first week.

Carswell on his place in USC's talented receiving corps: "I'm not really worried about being talked about or anything like that. I am just trying to go out here and do my job, as well as making sure everybody around is doing there job, so we can win games."

Today's two-a-day continues under the lights of Howard Jones Field at 6 p.m. Here's the coach after the no-pads portion of practice.